AARP Gets You Moving

For many people, "walk" is just a four-letter word. But walking can be fun if you turn it into a challenge for friends and family, transforming your exertion into good health.

That is the goal of AARP's 10-week walking program, Step Up to Better Health. People like Valerie Lawrence of Poplar Bluff have been able to get their blood sugar levels down, become more fit and have a good time doing it. Aiming for a target of 10,000 steps a day provided good motivation, she said.

"It was exciting because you set that goal and tried every day to meet it," said Lawrence, 51. "You could just challenge yourself that much more the next day if you didn't make it."

Being with others who are equally motivated helps. Lawrence persuaded her mother to join her, and when the next program comes around, she hopes to get her daughter walking as well.

"A lot of times, when you do something on your own, you don't have anybody to be accountable to," she said. "When you're in a group, you can't just slack off."

One AARP walking group leader, Ilena Aslin of Cape Girardeau, uses her 30 years of experience as a Girl Scout executive director to motivate people in southeast Missouri. She gets them moving and sets a good example with enthusiasm that is contagious.

Walkers get health checks when the program starts, when it ends and at regular intervals along the way, so they can easily see how exercise benefits their weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, strength, flexibility—even stress.

Aslin, who is 83, recalled asking members of one group whether they thought walking was making their lives a little easier to handle. … Back to Article